February 20 - Now Be Thankful

Today is a day of gratitude. After having had two major surgeries in two days (Wednesday and Thursday), yesterday was a much needed day of recovery for Christine. Although it was just the first of a long series of days in the healing and recovery, the fact that there was peace and calm with everyone, from medical staff to family as well as Chris herself, was a great relief, and I ended up going home last night to spend the night in my own bed.

Waking up rested today really made me feel incredibly grateful, and today's song will reflect that. I would like to thank Dawn, Chris' sister, for simply being amazing. She stayed with Chris last night, which allowed me to go home and rest up a little without feeling too guilty (I still don't like being away from her for long while she is in the ICU, but knowing she has someone there really made it possible). Chris' mom has also been there throughout everything, which really has been a great support as well.

I'm also very grateful for having Chris' kids, Andrew, Samantha, and Sarah, and their families in my life. They have stood by their mother's side through all of this, and while I am positive they have been scared out of their minds because of the brush Chris had with death ten years ago, when she first had breast cancer, they have been incredibly supportive. The rest of Chris' family have also been incredibly supportive, from her niece Laila and nephew Nabeel, who had the opportunity of being there in person, to everyone who have been staying in touch with us throughout the hairy days - and I truly believe those days are behind us. I would also like to thank the two youngest people stopping by for bringing big smiles to Chris' face: granddaughter Emma and great niece Lilliana.

Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends, whether you know Chris or not, for the incredible support you have shown both of us. For anyone ever doubting that Facebook can be a powerful tool used for good, I can tell you that it indeed can. I have seen and felt the support from both near and far, and I love you all back!

So before this gets all too sappy and sounding like a bad Oscar acceptance speech, I should talk about the music of today as well... I cannot claim to be a fan of Fairport Convention, although I do like them a lot. However, I am a huge fan of Richard Thompson, and since his music career started with FC, I have developed an interest in their early work. The first Richard Thompson album I owned was the retrospective Watching The Dark, a 3 CD set that included 3 Fairport songs: Genesis Hall, A Sailor's Life, and Now Be Thankful, which is today's song. Now Be Thankful is sung by Dave Swarbrick, who also cowrote it with Richard Thompson. To me, it is about gratitude in the face of extreme adversity, although there are many ways to interpret the lyrics... From 1970's edition of Fairport Convention, here is Now Be Thankful.